For his final film,DeForest Kelley provided
the voice of Viking 1in the 2nd/3rd installment
in the children's seriesThe Brave Little ToasterGoes to Mars.

Jackson DeForest Kelley (January 20th,
1920  June 11th, 1999) was an American actor, screenwriter,
poet and singer known for his iconic roles in Westerns and as Dr.
Leonard "Bones" McCoy of the USS Enterprise in the
television and film series Star Trek.

Kelley was delivered by his uncle at his
parents' home in Toccoa, Georgia, the son of Clora (née Casey)
and Ernest David Kelley, who was a Baptist minister. DeForest was
named after the pioneering electronics engineer Lee De Forest. He
later named his Star Trek character's father "David" after
his own father. Kelley had an older brother, Ernest Casey Kelley. As
a child Kelley was immersed in his father's mission in Conyers,
Georgia, regularly putting use to his musical talents he would often
sing solos in morning church services. Eventually, this led to an
appearance on the radio station WSB AM in Atlanta, Georgia. As a
result of his radio work, he won an engagement with Lew Forbes and
his orchestra at the Paramount Theater.

In 1934, the family left Conyers for
Decatur, Georgia. He attended the Decatur Boys High School where he
played on the Decatur Bantams baseball team. Kelley also played
football and other sports. Before his graduation in 1938, Kelley got
a job as a drugstore car hop and he spent his weekends working in the
local theaters.

During
World War II, Kelley served as an enlisted man in the United States
Army Air Forces between March 10th, 1943, and January 28th, 1946,
assigned to the First Motion Picture Unit. After an extended stay in
Long Beach, California, Kelley decided to pursue an acting career and
relocate to southern California permanently, living for a time with
his uncle Casey. Kelley's mother encouraged her son in his new career
goal, but his father disliked the idea. While in California, Kelley
was spotted by a Paramount Pictures scout while doing a United States
Navy training film.

Kelley's acting career began with the
feature film Fear in the Night in 1947. The low-budget movie was a
hit, bringing him to the attention of a national audience and giving
Kelley reason to believe that he would soon become a star. His next
role, in Variety Girl, established him as a leading actor and
resulted in the founding of his first fan club. Kelley did not become
a leading man, however, and he and his wife, Carolyn, decided to move
to New York City. He found work on stage and on live television, but
after three years in New York, the Kelleys returned to Hollywood. In
California, he received a role in an installment of You Are There,
anchored by Walter Cronkite. He played ranch owner Bob Kitteridge in
the 1949 episode "Legion of Old Timers" of the television
series The Lone Ranger. This led to an appearance in Gunfight at the
O.K. Corral as Morgan Earp (brother to Burt Lancaster's Wyatt Earp).
This role was a source for three movie offers, including Warlock with
Henry Fonda and Anthony Quinn. In 1957, he had a small role as a
Southern officer in Raintree County, a Civil War film directed by
Edward Dmytryk, alongside Elizabeth Taylor, Montgomery Clift and Lee
Marvin. He also starred in the lead role as a U.S. Navy submarine
captain in World War Two in The Silent Service TV series. He appeared
in both season 1, episode 5 "The Spearfish Delivers" as
Commander Dempsey and in the first episode of season 2 "The
Archerfish Spits Straight" as Lt. Comm. Enright. His Star Trek
co-star, Leonard Nimoy, also appeared in two different episodes of
this same series at around the same time.

Gunfight at the O.K. Corral appeared three
times in Kelleys career, first in 1955, where he portrayed Ike
Clanton in the television series You Are There; again, two years
later in the 1957 film of that name, playing Morgan Earp (above with
Kirk Douglas, Burt Lancaster and John Hudson); and perhaps in an
ironic salute, once again on October 25th, 1968, in a third season
Star Trek episode entitled "Spectre of the Gun", this time
portraying Tom McLaury.

Kelley also appeared in episodes of The
Donna Reed Show, Perry Mason, Wanted: Dead or Alive, Boots and
Saddles, Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theater, Death Valley Days,
Riverboat, Lawman, Bat Masterson and Laredo. He appeared in the 1962
episode of Route 66, "1800 Days to Justice" and "The
Clover Throne" as Willis. He had a small role in the movie The
View from Pompey's Head.

For
nine years, Kelley primarily played villains. He built up an
impressive list of credits, alternating between television and motion
pictures. However, he was afraid of typecasting, so he broke away
from villains by starring in Where Love Has Gone and a television
pilot called 333 Montgomery. The pilot was written by an ex-policeman
named Gene Roddenberry, and a few years later Kelley would appear in
another Roddenberry pilot, Police Story (1967), that was again not
developed into a series.

In 1956, years before being cast as Dr.
McCoy, Kelley played a small supporting role as a medic in The Man in
the Gray Flannel Suit in which he utters the diagnosis "This
man's dead, Captain" and "That man is dead" to Gregory
Peck. Kelley appeared as Lieutenant Commander James Dempsey in two
episodes of the syndicated military drama The Silent Service, based
on actual stories of the submarine section of the United States Navy.
In 1962, he appeared in the Bonanza episode entitled "The
Decision", as a doctor sentenced to hang for the murder of a
journalist. The judge in this episode was portrayed by John Hoyt, who
later portrayed Dr. Phillip John Boyce, one of Leonard McCoy's
predecessors, on the Star Trek pilot "The Cage". In 1963,
he appeared in The Virginian episode "Man of Violence" as a
"drinking" cavalry doctor with Leonard Nimoy as his patient
(Nimoy's character did not survive). The episode was written by John
D.F. Black, who went on to become a writer-producer on Star Trek.
Just before Star Trek began filming, Kelley appeared as a doctor
again, in the Laredo episode "The Sound of Terror".

In
1964 Gene Roddenberry offered DeForest Kelley the role of Spock in
the new television series he was developing. Kelly turned down the role.

Roddenberry's second choice to portray the
character was Adam West, who at the time happened to be busy working
on the film Robinson Crusoe on Mars (1964), and as a result, turned
to Nimoy, already known to him from a guest appearance in his TV
pilot The Lieutenant. Nichelle Nichols and Martin Landau were also
considered for the role of Spock. Kelley, on the other hand, would
later be cast as Dr. McCoy, the highly emotional human who became
Spock's frequent foil and played Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy
from 1966 to 1969 in original Star Trek series. Kelley reprised the
character in a voice-over role in Star Trek: The Animated Series
(197374), and the first six Star Trek motion pictures (1979 to
1991). In one of the Star Trek comic books it was stated that Dr.
McCoy's father had been a Baptist preacher, an idea that apparently
came from Kelley's background. In 1987, he also had a cameo in
"Encounter at Farpoint", the first episode of Star Trek:
The Next Generation, as by-that-time Admiral Leonard McCoy, Starfleet
Surgeon General Emeritus, 137 yrs old and still refusing to be
transported. Several aspects of Kelley's background became part of
McCoy's characterization, including his pronunciation of
"nuclear" as "nucular". When Star Trek first
aired in 1966, Kelley had, unlike most of his co-stars, already been
a professional actor for more than 20 years. Although he didn't look
it at the time, he was more than a decade older than most of the cast.

Kelley became good friends with Star Trek
cast mates William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy from their first meeting
in 1964. During Trek's first season, Kelley's name was listed in the
end credits along with the rest of the cast. Only Shatner and Nimoy
were listed in the opening credits. As Kelley's role grew in
importance during the first season he received a pay raise to about
$2,500 per episode, and received third billing starting in the second
season after Nimoy. Despite the show's recognition of Kelley as one
of its stars he was frustrated by the greater attention that Shatner
received as its lead actor, and Nimoy received because of
"Spockamania" among fans.

Shy by his own admission, Kelley was the
only cast member of the original Star Trek series program never to
have written or published an autobiography; however, the authorized
biography From Sawdust to Stardust (2005) was written posthumously by
Terry Lee Rioux of Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas. Kelley
regarded The Empath to be his favourite Star Trek television episode.

After
Star Trek, Kelley found himself a victim of the very typecasting he
had so feared. In 1972, he was cast in the horror film Night of the
Lepus. Kelley thereafter did a few television appearances and a
couple of movies but essentially went into de facto retirement other
than playing McCoy. By 1978 he was earning up to $50,000 annually
from appearances at Star Trek conventions. Like other Star Trek
actors, Kelley received little of the enormous profits that the
franchise generated for Paramount, until Nimoy, as executive
producer, helped arrange for Kelley to be paid $1 million for Star
Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991) which would eventually be
his final live action film appearance.

In a TLC interview done in the late 1990s,
Kelley jokingly said one of his biggest fears was that the words
etched on his gravestone would be "He's dead, Jim."
Reflecting this, Kelley's obituary in Newsweek magazine began:
"We're not even going to try to resist: He's dead, Jim." On
the other hand, he stated that he was very proud to hear from so many
Star Trek fans who had been inspired to become doctors as a result of
his portrayal of Dr. McCoy.

Later in life, Kelley developed an
interest in poetry, eventually publishing the first of two books in a
series, The Big Bird's Dream and The Dream Goes On (a series he would
never finish). Kelley died of stomach cancer on June 11th, 1999. His
body was cremated and the ashes were scattered in the Pacific Ocean.

Selected DeForest
Kelley TVography

21 Beacon Street- The Hostage (1959)

26 Men- Trail of Revenge (1959)

77 Sunset Strip- 88 Bars (1963)

A Man Called Shenandoah- The Riley Brand (1966)

The ABC Afternoon Playbreak- I Never Said Goodbye (1973)

The Adventures of Jim Bowie- An Eye for an Eye (1957)

Alcoa Theatre- 333 Montgomery Street (1960)- Johnny Risk (1958)

Armstrong Circle Theatre- Breakaway (1952)

Assignment: Underwater- Affair in Tokyo (1961)

Bat Masterson- No Amnesty for Death (1961)

Black Saddle- Apache Trail (1959)

The Bold Ones: The New Doctors- Giants Never Kneel (1970)

Bonanza- Ride the Wind: Part 1 and 2 (1966)- The Decision (1962)- The Honor of Cochise (1961)

Boots and Saddles- The Marquis of Donnybrook (1957)

Cain's Hundred- The Fixer (1961)

Cavalcade of America- A Medal for Miss Walker (1954)

City Detective- Crazy Like a Fox (1954)- An Old Man's Gold (1953)

Code 3- Oil Well Incident (1957)

Coronado 9- Run, Shep, Run (1961)- Loser's Circle (1960)

The Cowboys- David Done It (1974)

The Dakotas- Reformation at Big Nose Butte (1963)

Death Valley Days- Lady of the Plains (1966)- Devil's Gate (1965)- Coffin for a Coward (1963)- The Breaking Point (1962)

The Deputy- The Means and the End (1961)

Disneyland- Elfego Baca: Mustang Man, Mustang Maid (1959)

The Donna Reed Show- Uncle Jeff Needs You (1965)

The Fugitive- Three Cheers for Little Boy Blue (1965)

The Gallant Men- A Taste of Peace (1963)

Gunsmoke- Indian Scout (1956)

Have Gun - Will Travel- The Treasure (1962)

Ironside- Warrior's Return (1970)

Johnny Midnight- The Inner Eye (1960)

Laramie- The Unvanquished (1963)- Gun Duel (1962)

Laredo- Sound of Terror (1966)

Lawman- The Squatters (1961)- The Thimblerigger (1960)

The Lineup- The Chloroform Murder Case (1959)

The Littlest Hobo- Runaway (1981)

The Lone Ranger- Death in the Forest (1953)- Gold Train (1950)- The Legion of Old Timers (1949)

You Are There- The Fall of Fort Sumter on April 12,
1861 (1956)- The Heroism of Clara Barton on Sept. 17,
1862 (1956)- Spindletop - The First Great Texas Oil
Strike on Jan. 10, 1901 (1955)- Eli Whitney Invents the Cotton Gin on
May 27, 1793 (1955)- The Gunfight at the O.K. Corral on Oct.
26, 1881 (1955)- The Rescue of the American Prisoners
from Santo Tomas on Feb. 3, 1945 (1955)- The Surrender of Corregidor on May 6,
1942 (1954)- The Surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown (1953)- The Capture of John Wilkes Booth on
April 26, 1865 (1953)

Your Favorite Story- Inside Out (1954)- Inside Out: The Story of Bunder-Runger
the Jailbird (1954)- The Man Who Sold His Shadow (1953)

In
the early part of the 20th century cousin Bebe Daniels already had
toured as an actor by the age of four in a stage production of
Richard III the US, she had her first leading role at the age of
seven and started her film career shortly after this in movies for
Imperial, Pathe and others. At 14 she was already a film veteran, and
was enlisted by Hal Roach to star as Harold Lloyd's leading lady in
his "Lonesome Luke" shorts distributed by Pathe. Lloyd fell
hard for Bebe and seriously considered marrying her but her drive to
pursue a film career along with her sense of independence clashed
with Lloyd's Victorian definition of a wife. The two eventually broke
up but would remain lifelong friends.

In the 1920s, Daniels was under contract
with Paramount Pictures. She made the transition from child star to
adult in Hollywood by 1922 and by 1924 was playing opposite Rudolph
Valentino in Monsieur Beaucaire. Following this she was cast in a
number of light popular films, namely Miss Bluebeard, The Manicure
Girl, and Wild Wild Susan. Unlike many actors, the arrival of sound
posed no problem for her; she had a beautiful singing voice and
became a major musical star, with such hits like Rio Rita (1929) and
42nd Street (1933) for RKO. After musicals had gone out of fashion
she signed with Warner Brothers were she starred in such pictures as
My Past (1931), Honor of the Family (1931) and the 1931 pre-code
version of The Maltese Falcon, which was eventually eclipsed by John
Huston's legendary 1941 version with Humphrey Bogart. In 1932, she
appeared in Silver Dollar (1932) and the successful Busby Berkeley
choreographed musical comedy 42nd Street (1933) in which she sang
once again. That same year she played opposite John Barrymore in
Counsellor at Law. Her last film for the Warner Brothers was
Registered Nurse (1934).

Bebe
Daniels retired from Hollywood in 1935. With her husband, film actor
Ben Lyon, whom she married in 1930, she moved to London. A few years
later, Daniels starred in the London production of Panama Hattie in
the title role originated by Ethel Merman. The Lyons then did radio
shows for the BBC. Most notably, they starred in the series Hi Gang!,
continuing for decades and enjoying considerable popularity during
World War II. Daniels wrote most of the dialogue for the Hi Gang
radio show. The couple remained through the days of the The Blitz.
Following the war, Daniels was awarded the Medal of Freedom by Harry
S. Truman for war service. In 1945 she returned to Hollywood for a
short time to work as a film producer for Hal Roach and Eagle-Lion
Films. She returned to the UK in 1948 and lived there for the
remainder of her life. Daniels, her husband, her son Richard and her
daughter Barbara all starred in the radio sitcom Life With The Lyons
(1951 to 1961), which later made the transition to television.
Daniels suffered a severe stroke in 1963 and withdrew from public
life. She suffered a second stroke in late 1970. On March 16th, 1971,
Daniels died of a cerebral hemorrhage in London at the age of 70.

Another relative, Dr. Lee De Forest,
"the father of sound", was instrumental in improving the
sound quality of the early talkies inventing the 3-element vacuum
tube which helped usher in the age of radio and television. DeForest
Kelley is named after him.

Cousin
Calvert DeForest was born on July 23nd, 1921 in Brooklyn, New York,
USA. He was an actor, known for The Couch Potato Workout (1988), My
Demon Lover (1987) and Apple Pie (1976). Calvert is best known today
for his work with David Letterman. In early 1982, DeForest was hired
to appear on the new show Late Night With David Letterman playing the
role of Larry "Bud" Melman who would be given odd chores to
perform, such as handing out hot towels to arrivals at the New York
Port Authority bus terminal. At other times, Melman would give
pre-scripted answers to unlikely audience questions or interrupt
programming to promote a bizarre new product (such as "Toast-on-a-stick:
Bread's answer to the popsicle!"). Melman also appeared as
"Kenny The Gardener", offering dubious gardening advice to
home viewers. Occasionally, Melman would just simply wander onto the
stage during Letterman's monologue as if lost, then leave without
saying anything.

A hallmark of the character was his
seemingly genuine lack of acting polish. Melman's scripted lines were
usually delivered in a forceful shout, but when Letterman or others
forced "Melman" into ad-libbing, the actor's naturally more
soft-spoken and polite nature came to the forefront. He was also
noted for his remote interviews in which he would ask the interviewee
a question, but pitch the microphone to the interviewee too quickly,
resulting in the last part of the question being inaudible.

When
Letterman moved from NBC to CBS in 1993, the Melman name was
retired, as NBC insisted that character of "Larry 'Bud'
Melman" was their intellectual property. However, starting from
the very first edition of The Late Show with David Letterman,
DeForest continued to play exactly the same character he had played
on Late Night, he now simply used his own name to do so. DeForest
often drew laughs as a Late Show correspondent at events such as the
1994 Winter Olympics in Norway and the Woodstock anniversary. One of
DeForest's more memorable skits came on Letterman's May 13th, 1994,
show. The host stated Johnny Carson would announce the evening's Top
10 list, at which point DeForest appeared as "Johnny
Carson." Shortly after DeForest's exit, the real Johnny Carson
appeared in what would prove Carson's last television appearance.

DeForest continued to appear on
Letterman's show until his 81st birthday in 2002 before retiring from
acting. Letterman noted after DeForest's death, "Everyone always
wondered if Calvert was an actor playing a character, but in reality
he was just himself: a genuine, modest and nice man. To our staff and
to our viewers, he was a beloved and valued part of our show, and we
will miss him." When asked how he'd like to be remembered,
DeForest responded, "Just being able to make people laugh and
knowing people enjoyed my humor. I also hope I haven't offended
anyone through the years."